Historic Webster Vol. 9 No. 4

HISTORIC~
11 r w :, I e: t e 1 o f 1 tv; Web s 1 e 1 H 1s t o 1 1 c a I Soc 1 e t y 1 n c
V-O-LU-ME- I-X, -NU-M-BE-R -4 --W-E-BS-TE-R, ~NO~RT~H CAROLINA WINTER, 1983
Edith Moore Hall, Mountain Lady
David McKee and Edith Moore Hall were in Webster when this photograph was
made. They were married in 1915 and moved to Sylva where Hall was in business.
The Webster School and the Courthouse are in the background.
By Hannah Lou Rawlson
On a frosty morning ,
February 18, 1898, Edith Enloe
Moore was born at 25 Oak
Street, Asheville, the first born
of Frederick and Lelanora
Enloe Moore. In the following
years she was joined by
Frederick, Jr ., Margaret
Hooker, William Enloe, and
Daniel Killian Moore.
When she was ten her father
passed away. His dying wish
was for the family to move to
Dillsboro, to be near her
mother's family. Following a
year in Dillsboro, Lela Enloe
Moore decided to move her
family to Webster because of
the excellent school there. And
when Edith was eleven years
old they moved into the Terrell
house. Soon though they mov­ed
to the Hedden home.
During her years in Webster
she studied art and music
under the able direction of
Mrs. Robert Lee Madison. To­day
you can see the results of
her art classes on the walls of
her home in Sylva. There are
various pastoral scenes and a
number of Gibson Girl
portraits.
One of her fondest memories
is of the Christmas season.
First, there was the opening of
gifts under the Christmas tree
at their home, then on to the
Lewis Broyles for Christmas
breakfast. She says she can
still taste Aunt Lily Broyles'
delicious boiled custard and
pound cakes. At night there
was the sumptuous Christmas
dinner at the home of Scroup
Enloe, Edith 's uncle, in
Dillsboro where all the family
gathered.
While living in Webster she
met and fell in love with David
McKee Hall, the eldest son of
L. C. and Hannah McKee Hall.
They were married Monday,
May 31st, 1915.
To this union were born five
children. The first was
Margaret Moore Hall (Mrs.
Joe Dowdle who now lives in
Continued on page 2
Edith Enloe Moore was born in Asheville in 1898. She was eight
months old when this Taylor photograph was made. After her father's
death, the family moved to Webster and was a school girl when this
photograph was taken. In 1981 the portrait of Edith Moore Hall was
painted by Laura Shuford, an Asheville artist.
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1983
Edith Hall inspires the family and COl
Continued from page 1
Asheville). David McKee Hall,
Jr., came next and at his death
was a member of the United
States Congress. Carolyn Hall
was next in line but she lived
only four years. Robert
Cromwell Hall was number
four. He is now vice-president
of North Carolina National
Bank in Asheville. Lela Moore
Hall was the baby of the fami­ly
and at her retirement was
head of the Welfare Depart­ment
of New Hanover County
in Wilmington.
Following the marriage
Edith and David moved to
Sylva where David was in
business. He owned and
operated the Sylva Supply
Store which is still an impor­tant
store in the town. They
lived first in the old Commer­cial
Hotel, which does not ex­ist
today. They next moved in­to
the J ames McKee home
(James McKee was an uncle
of David's) where they stayed
until moving into the home on
Keener Street where she lives
today.
In September, 1938, death
claimed her husband and left
her with three children to put
through college and a son who
was crippled with osteomyeli­tis.
In 1944 Mrs. Carrie Bryson,
the house mother of Moore
Dormitory (named for Edith's
uncle Judge Walter E. Moore)
at Western Carolina Teachers
College, was leaving her posi­tion
to become the dietician
and manager of the college
dining room. Dr. H. T. Hunter,
president, and Ralph Sutton,
business manager of the col­lege
came to see Edith and
asked her to take the job of
house mother. She insisted
that she was not capable of do­ing
the job. They told her that
they would be the judge of that
and if she would take the job
they would both shout. She
said she would do it if for no
other reason than to hear them
shout. She remained at the col­lege
and university for twenty­three
years where she was
also Assistant Dean of Women.
During the 1960's a favorite
prank of the men students was
a panty raid on the girls' dor­mitories.
When Moore Dor­mitory's
time came Edith Hall
met them at the back parlor
door as they were sneaking in­side.
She slapped the first boy
who came through the door in
the face. She said, "There is
not one gentleman in this
crowd or you would not be ac­ting
like hoodlums." Unable to
get past Edith the panty raid
was a failure. To the best of
anyone's knowledge, this was
the only panty raid in the
United States that was stopped
by a house mother.
In 1959 she was honored by
the State of North Carolina as
Mother of the Year.
When Edith retired, the girls
in her dormitory donated
money to have her portrait
painted. This picture was to
remain in the lobby of Helder
Dormitory. This was given in
love and appreciation for her
many years of service and
devotion to her job and to
The Moore children, Edith, William, Dan, F re(
house.
Western Carolina University.
David Hall: farmer, businessman Following her retirement
she did not sit back and take
things easy however. She has
been very active in the Sylva
United Methodist Church,
president of the C. J. Harris
Hospital Auxiliary, an officer
in Daughters of American Col­onists
local chapter and the
Twentieth Century Club, and
on the board of the American
Cancer Society whose job was
to raise funds.
By Joe P. Rhinehart
Though a business and civic
leader in Jackson County,
David McKee Hall seems to
have had as his first love, his
land, his farm. He was suc­cessful
in business, and as a
young man, twenty six years
old, he took over the Sylva
Supply Company, and with his
business ability, he made it in­to
Jackson county's best
known store. He later engaged
in other business ventures -
the Sylva Supply Market, the
Mercantile Supply, the Pure
Oil Company - but farming
was his life.
Born in Webster at Sun­nybrook
Farm in 1887, the son
of L. Coleman and Hannah
McKee.Hall, David attended
the Webster and Cullowhee
schools. He then left Jackson
County to attend North
Carolina State University in
Raleigh where he studied
agriculture.
The Jackson County Journal
said that he was "born and
bred on the farm." He was
"especially interested in the
farms and farmers of the
county, and endeavored in
many ways to better condi­tions
on the farms and to pro­mote
better agricultural
methods, both in production
and in marketing. The results
of his labors along this line will
be felt in the county for many
years. He believed in good
farms , good homes, good
crops, good stock , good
marketing, and hard in­telligent
and telling work, and
that in them lay the future pro­sperity
of the county, for he
realized the independence of
all the people of the town and
county."
David Hall married Edith
Moore in Webster in 1915, and
they became the parents of
five children, Margaret,
David, Carolyn, Robert, and
Lela Moore. They moved to
Sylva where he managed the
Sylva Supply. Mr. Hall passed
away in Sylva on September
30, 1938, a respected farmer,
businessman, and civic leader.
David McKee Hall was a
direct descendant of the
Reverend Joshua and Sara
Sellers Hall who came to this
area in the early 1800's. Their
oldest son, Joshua Hall, Jr.,
was married to Mary Jane
(Jennie) Queen in 1807. David
Fonzie Hall was their first
child, born on Savannah.
Following his marriage to
Rachel Wilson they made their
home in Webster. To this union
were born three children,
Lucius Coleman, Mary Jane
(Molly), and Laura. Lucius
Coleman married Magdelean
Angeline Allison. They had one
child, Florence. After the
death of Magdelean Angeline,
L. C. Hall married Hannah
Margaret McKee. To this
union were born three
children, Rachel Grace, David
McKee, and Lucius Coleman.
David McKee Hall married
Edith Moore in 1915.
Young David McKee Hall
David McKee Hall became the hus­band
of Edith Enloe Moore in 1915.
It was in 1959 that Edith Hall
was named North Carolina 's
Mother of the Year. It is true
that Mrs. Hall has presided
over nearly every club and
organization, civic and
religious and patriotic, in
Jackson county, but becoming
Mother of the Year is her
greatest honor and her most
natural one.
She and David Hall had five
children. Carolyn, their second
daughter, died at fou r .
Margaret married and lived in
Franklin until she moved to
Asheville to teach at the
Eliada Home for Children. She
has two children, Charles and
Carolyn in Franklin.
David, a Jackson county
lawyer, lived in Webster until
he was elected to the United
States Congress and moved to
Washington. He died in 1960.
His wife, Sarah McCollum and
their daughters Anne, Allison,
and Hannah live in Virginia.
Robert and Anne Osborne
Hall live in Asheville where he
is vice president of the North
Carolina National Bank. Their
children, Robert, Allen, and
David are Asheville residents.
Lela Moore Hall has retired
as Director of Social Services
for New Hanover County,
Wilmington, and now lives in
Sylva.
Winter, 1983, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Page 3
nmunity with love and understanding
!erick and Margaret, in front of their Asheville The Hall family home, Riverview, in Webster, sits on the banks of the Tuckaseigee River.
Four children who are her
monuments to motherhood
plus all the hundreds of
students she influenced at
Western Carolina University
plus the hundreds of children
and their children who use the
Jackson County Library
where she instituted the
Friends of the Library plus
children whose futures she
guided in PTA .. plus ... the
list could just go on- a monu­ment
to the mother.
Her friends, neighbors, and
relatives recognize Edith
Moore Hall for all the things
she is.
"She is a devout Christian
woman and mother embody­ing
the Christian virture of
love and service in the finest
ways," wrote the Reverend
Milford V. Thumm, the former
minister of the Cullowhee
United Methodist Church.
Ann Enloe, her cousin in
Dillsboro, says, "She is the
proverbial 'Pillar of strength.'
All my life the whole family
has always been prone to 'call
Edith' or 'send for Edith' or
'tell Edith' first in any family
crisis."
Mrs. Reid, former Western
Carolina University presi­dent's
wife, in her nomination
of Mrs. Hall for Mother of the
Year, said, " Mrs. Hall comes
as close to being the idea
mother as it is possible for
anyone to be. She has inspired
not only her own four children
but all who know her because
of her unfailing courage, her
strength in the face of adver­sity,
her calmness and her
cheerfulness. Many of these
qualities are hers because of a
deep, abiding faith in God. She
has been tested many times,
some would feel that she has
had more than her share of
trials and tribulation, but her
courage has never weakened,
and she has given strength to
those about her. Above all,
Mrs. Hall enjoys life, and she
makes life pleasant for all who
come in contact with her. She
has poise, charm, and warm
friendliness. She loves people
and understands them, and
she is always ready to help
them. In return people love
her.''
Hannah Lou Brown Rawlson
is a frequent contributor to
Historic -Webster. She is a stu­dent
of local and family
history.
The Hedden House in Webster, home for eleven years, and the Sylva Supply
have been very important in Edith Hall's life.
The
Hall
Children
Carolyn
Margaret Moore
Robert Cromwell
David McKee
Lela Moore
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1983
Reflections by Janice Monteith Blanton
David McKee Hall, Jr.
The David Halls were my " employers" during my
teens in Webster. Come to think of it, many of my
neighbors were my employers in one way or another
as I grew up- I was a hairdresser for some, a clean­ing
lady for others, and for the David Halls, a baby
or " child" sitter, as I'm sure their three daughters
would have preferred at the time I be called.
On the nights or weekends when I stayed with the
Hall girls, David (Mr. Hall as I called him) would
always pick me up and take me home. He'd pull up
in front of our house, usually on the way home from
the office, in his big black Buick (I think it was a
Buick), I'd jump in the car and away we'd "fly"
down the Webster hill to his house. Being paralyzed
from the waist down, David used a cane to accelerate
and brake the car. This, added to the fact that he was
a VERY fast driver, often served to raise the hair
on my head as we sped down the hill. Many times,
I silently wondered if we weren't going to end up in
the Allman's living room at the deep curve above the
River. Sometimes I suspected he gave me these ex­citing
rides just to test my nerves or for the pure fun
of it.
himself. Rather, he appeared to me to be a man with
very high goals and objectives which he was deter­mined
to achieve.
Family-wise, I believe David was a lucky man. He
had an absolutely lovely wife and three beautiful, in­telligent
daughters who thought their father was
a great guy. In fact, his beautiful wife was one of his
greatest assets and a great contributor to his
achievements. Mrs. Hall was one of the most
graceful and elegant women I've ever seen. Tall with
sparkling black hair and a very soft spoken voice and
sweet smile, she was very much in control of herself
and the Hall family arena. She was the "enabler"
in the family- the one who made things happen. She
was the organizing and stabilizing force of the fami­ly
and a very strong and compassiona te woman.
Child-sitting for the Halls meant that I saw very
little of Mr. and Mrs. Hall themselves. However, I
remember my teen-age interaction with that family
and feel very proud to say, "I used to baby-sit for the
Halls," because I admired the David Hall family
very much and feel that families like this are what
made Webster such a great place for me to grow up.
Edith Hall's family recipe
for pound cake
By Edith Moore Hall
This recipe was given to me by my great­grandmother,
Mrs. Jack Allison, who got it from her
mother, " Nanny" Bryson.
POUND CAKE
1 pound butter
1 V. pounds white sugar
1 pound eggs ( 11)
1 pound flour
11h teaspoons vanilla
1'h teaspoons lemon
11! teaspoon salt
Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the flour and
eggs alternately, in small quantities, stirring con­stantly
until all are added. Mix in vanilla, lemon, salt
and beat well. Bake in a pan with a stem which has
been buttered and floured at 350• for 11h hours or un­til
done when tested with a broom straw.
With this cake at Christmastime, we like to serve
ambrosia. To one quart of orange sections, mem­brane
removed, add one quart sliced bananas and
one cup of freshly grated coconut. Sweeten to taste
and chill before serving.
I liked David and I certainly admired him. He was
instinctively likeable, very kind and friendly to me,
and my observation was that he thought a great deal
of his family and they of him. Usually when I was
there they were on their way somewhere so my op­portunity
for observation was really minor, but the
children's Jove and admiration for their parents
came through in many ways in their absence. Once
David was playing some kind of hand game with the
children and they wanted him to try it with me. I ap­proached
his wheelchair a little apprehensively and
he grinned and asked me to close my hand into a fist.
Then he pressed a spot on my wrist and asked me
to open my hand - I couldn't do it! The girls got a
great kick out of this.
Edith Moore Hall provided
home and support for family
I admired David because, in spite of his handicap,
he had in my opinion achieved considerable success,
both materially, career-wise, and family-wise.
Evidence of material success could be seen in the
Hall house - a lovely old, and beautifully restored,
house on the Tuckasegee River. Being a lover of
history and particularly of old houses, I was
delighted with the frequent opportunities for sitting
at the Halls. To me, spending time there was a
somewhat romantic experience and, I suppose, of­fered
me opportunity to dream of the day when I'd
Jive in such a home and setting myself. At times, the
girls and I would go out to the shallow parts of the
river and play and throw stones, and I would
periodically glance back at the house and revel in its
stately beauty. The house was essentially divided in­to
the "back" and "front. " The back part of the house
consisted of the den, kitchen, bath, and one bedroom,
and this was the heated area of the house where the
family Jived. The girls' rooms were in an upstairs
attic-type section off the den. I would go up and turn
on space heaters for them some time prior to their
bedtime so their rooms would be warm when they
went to bed. Being an adult who has to pay heating
bills on a large two-story house, I can now unders­tand
the practicality of this arrangement. Actually,
the only other area of the house I ever saw in my
periodic stays at the Halls was the living room and
front foyer. I saw this area one Christmas when the
girls took me to see their large Christmas tree
located in the foyer. Now, you'd think that as in­trigued
as I was with the house, I would have asked
the girls to see the rest of it or slipped around and
looked at the other rooms when they were asleep, but
I didn't. I stayed there all those times dying to see
the remainder of the house, but too conscientious to
peep and too backward or self-conscious to ask!
Career-wise, David, from all appearances had a
successful law practice. Also, at the time I stayed
with them he was a state senator; this perhaps
precipitated many of their social engagements at the
time. As a young person I was very impressed with
his professional status and personal achievements
because I surmised that to accomplish what he had
with his handicap must have required a great deter­mination
and "stick-tuitiveness" which many so­called
normal people don't have. In my contact with
David, I never heard him complain or feel sorry for
By Dan K. Moore
I could write a book about my relationship with
David and Edith Hall, both one-time residents of
Webster. The legal relationship, that of sister and
brother-in-Jaw is only a foundation on which many
years of Jove, assistance, and support have been
built.
My mother, Lela Enloe Moore, died while I was a
freshman at the University of North Carolina. Since
my father had died several years previously,
thereafter, I made my home with my sister Margaret
Council and her husband Jim and Edith and David
- mostly with the Halls as Margaret and Jim fre­quently
moved because of Jim's work.
To say that the Halls furnished me a home is to tell
only a small part of the story. David provided me
with a job during vacation at the Sylva Supply or the
Mercantile Supply, he endorsed my notes at the oid
Tuckaseigee Bank so that I could complete my
education at the University and its Law School, but
equally important, both Edith and David always
gave me the support, encouragement, and advice
that every young person so badly needs.
When I returned to Sylva to begin my career as a
lawyer, I again had a home with the Halls plus their
continued assistance in every way possible, and it
was not until 1933, when Jeanelle and I were mar­ried
and established our own home, that I left the
Halls.
To summarize, life as I knew it, would have been
impossible without the Halls, otherwise, I might
never have studied Jaw or followed the path which
later took me from Sylva into different fields and op­portunities.
To say that I will forever be grateful to
the Halls is the biggest understatement of the cen­tury.
Actually, words are insufficient to express this
gratitude.
By Margaret Moore Council
Edith Moore Hall has been more than a sister to
me since our father, Judge Frederick Moore, died
when I was not quite six years old. She, the oldest
of five children, helped our mother, Lela Enloe
Moore, rear us. While we thought she was often pret­ty
" bossy," as the years passed we reauze that this
was part of the responsibility thrust upon her when
she was only ten years old.
When Edith married David McKee Hall and mov­ed
to Sylva, she was greatly missed in our Webster
home, but we soon realized that now we had two
homes, as she and David always made us feel so
welcome.
Our mother, having moved to Sylva, died in
February, 1924. After a brief attempt to keep her
home open, we rented it and made the Hall home our
headquarters. At that time my brother Fred was
working in Lafayette, Georgia, Dan and Enloe were
in school in Chapel Hill, and I was teaching in
Brevard.
My husband, James H. Council, and I were mar­ried
in the Sylva Methodist Church and our wedding
reception was given by the Halls in their home. Jim
was immediately absorbed into the family and has
loved and honored Edith and David as I have. Among
our happiest memories are those holidays spent with
them and their four children in their hospitable
home.
By Jeanelle C. Moore
My experience involving a relationship with Edith
and David Hall was one of the most rewarding and
happiest of my life. In 1933 I came to Sylva as the
bride of a handsome, young attorney Dan Moore,
brother of Edith. And if I had been hand-picked and
approved my first welcome into the wide, wonder­ful
world of the Moore family could not have been
more genuine and loving- a relationship which ex­ists
today after fifty happy years of marriage to that
lawyer.
Edith became my sister, advisor only when I
sought advice, and my friend. Perhaps I can best ex­plain
how I felt about this wonderful lady by telling
you that when our first child, a daughter, was born
·it was my expressed wish that she be named Edith.
Need I say more.
By James H. Council
Margaret and I met in the fall of 1923. She was
teaching in Brevard, and I was working for the Tran­sylvania
County Road Commission. It was in the
spring of 1924 that I first met Margaret's wonderful
sister, Edith Moore Hall, and her husband David.
Edith and David and their children were kind, and
good, to me from the very beginning. I never had a
sister, but when Margaret and I were married in 1925
Edith became my sister-in-law, and I am sure the
most wonderful one in the world. David was a fine
brother-in-Jaw too. They gave me a cordial welcome
into Margaret's family, and I have loved them dearly
from the beginning.
David and I had some business relationships,
which he managed until his death in 1938. After that
Edith and I have continued the business partnership,
and what a great partner she has been.

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HISTORIC~
11 r w :, I e: t e 1 o f 1 tv; Web s 1 e 1 H 1s t o 1 1 c a I Soc 1 e t y 1 n c
V-O-LU-ME- I-X, -NU-M-BE-R -4 --W-E-BS-TE-R, ~NO~RT~H CAROLINA WINTER, 1983
Edith Moore Hall, Mountain Lady
David McKee and Edith Moore Hall were in Webster when this photograph was
made. They were married in 1915 and moved to Sylva where Hall was in business.
The Webster School and the Courthouse are in the background.
By Hannah Lou Rawlson
On a frosty morning ,
February 18, 1898, Edith Enloe
Moore was born at 25 Oak
Street, Asheville, the first born
of Frederick and Lelanora
Enloe Moore. In the following
years she was joined by
Frederick, Jr ., Margaret
Hooker, William Enloe, and
Daniel Killian Moore.
When she was ten her father
passed away. His dying wish
was for the family to move to
Dillsboro, to be near her
mother's family. Following a
year in Dillsboro, Lela Enloe
Moore decided to move her
family to Webster because of
the excellent school there. And
when Edith was eleven years
old they moved into the Terrell
house. Soon though they mov­ed
to the Hedden home.
During her years in Webster
she studied art and music
under the able direction of
Mrs. Robert Lee Madison. To­day
you can see the results of
her art classes on the walls of
her home in Sylva. There are
various pastoral scenes and a
number of Gibson Girl
portraits.
One of her fondest memories
is of the Christmas season.
First, there was the opening of
gifts under the Christmas tree
at their home, then on to the
Lewis Broyles for Christmas
breakfast. She says she can
still taste Aunt Lily Broyles'
delicious boiled custard and
pound cakes. At night there
was the sumptuous Christmas
dinner at the home of Scroup
Enloe, Edith 's uncle, in
Dillsboro where all the family
gathered.
While living in Webster she
met and fell in love with David
McKee Hall, the eldest son of
L. C. and Hannah McKee Hall.
They were married Monday,
May 31st, 1915.
To this union were born five
children. The first was
Margaret Moore Hall (Mrs.
Joe Dowdle who now lives in
Continued on page 2
Edith Enloe Moore was born in Asheville in 1898. She was eight
months old when this Taylor photograph was made. After her father's
death, the family moved to Webster and was a school girl when this
photograph was taken. In 1981 the portrait of Edith Moore Hall was
painted by Laura Shuford, an Asheville artist.
Page 2, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1983
Edith Hall inspires the family and COl
Continued from page 1
Asheville). David McKee Hall,
Jr., came next and at his death
was a member of the United
States Congress. Carolyn Hall
was next in line but she lived
only four years. Robert
Cromwell Hall was number
four. He is now vice-president
of North Carolina National
Bank in Asheville. Lela Moore
Hall was the baby of the fami­ly
and at her retirement was
head of the Welfare Depart­ment
of New Hanover County
in Wilmington.
Following the marriage
Edith and David moved to
Sylva where David was in
business. He owned and
operated the Sylva Supply
Store which is still an impor­tant
store in the town. They
lived first in the old Commer­cial
Hotel, which does not ex­ist
today. They next moved in­to
the J ames McKee home
(James McKee was an uncle
of David's) where they stayed
until moving into the home on
Keener Street where she lives
today.
In September, 1938, death
claimed her husband and left
her with three children to put
through college and a son who
was crippled with osteomyeli­tis.
In 1944 Mrs. Carrie Bryson,
the house mother of Moore
Dormitory (named for Edith's
uncle Judge Walter E. Moore)
at Western Carolina Teachers
College, was leaving her posi­tion
to become the dietician
and manager of the college
dining room. Dr. H. T. Hunter,
president, and Ralph Sutton,
business manager of the col­lege
came to see Edith and
asked her to take the job of
house mother. She insisted
that she was not capable of do­ing
the job. They told her that
they would be the judge of that
and if she would take the job
they would both shout. She
said she would do it if for no
other reason than to hear them
shout. She remained at the col­lege
and university for twenty­three
years where she was
also Assistant Dean of Women.
During the 1960's a favorite
prank of the men students was
a panty raid on the girls' dor­mitories.
When Moore Dor­mitory's
time came Edith Hall
met them at the back parlor
door as they were sneaking in­side.
She slapped the first boy
who came through the door in
the face. She said, "There is
not one gentleman in this
crowd or you would not be ac­ting
like hoodlums." Unable to
get past Edith the panty raid
was a failure. To the best of
anyone's knowledge, this was
the only panty raid in the
United States that was stopped
by a house mother.
In 1959 she was honored by
the State of North Carolina as
Mother of the Year.
When Edith retired, the girls
in her dormitory donated
money to have her portrait
painted. This picture was to
remain in the lobby of Helder
Dormitory. This was given in
love and appreciation for her
many years of service and
devotion to her job and to
The Moore children, Edith, William, Dan, F re(
house.
Western Carolina University.
David Hall: farmer, businessman Following her retirement
she did not sit back and take
things easy however. She has
been very active in the Sylva
United Methodist Church,
president of the C. J. Harris
Hospital Auxiliary, an officer
in Daughters of American Col­onists
local chapter and the
Twentieth Century Club, and
on the board of the American
Cancer Society whose job was
to raise funds.
By Joe P. Rhinehart
Though a business and civic
leader in Jackson County,
David McKee Hall seems to
have had as his first love, his
land, his farm. He was suc­cessful
in business, and as a
young man, twenty six years
old, he took over the Sylva
Supply Company, and with his
business ability, he made it in­to
Jackson county's best
known store. He later engaged
in other business ventures -
the Sylva Supply Market, the
Mercantile Supply, the Pure
Oil Company - but farming
was his life.
Born in Webster at Sun­nybrook
Farm in 1887, the son
of L. Coleman and Hannah
McKee.Hall, David attended
the Webster and Cullowhee
schools. He then left Jackson
County to attend North
Carolina State University in
Raleigh where he studied
agriculture.
The Jackson County Journal
said that he was "born and
bred on the farm." He was
"especially interested in the
farms and farmers of the
county, and endeavored in
many ways to better condi­tions
on the farms and to pro­mote
better agricultural
methods, both in production
and in marketing. The results
of his labors along this line will
be felt in the county for many
years. He believed in good
farms , good homes, good
crops, good stock , good
marketing, and hard in­telligent
and telling work, and
that in them lay the future pro­sperity
of the county, for he
realized the independence of
all the people of the town and
county."
David Hall married Edith
Moore in Webster in 1915, and
they became the parents of
five children, Margaret,
David, Carolyn, Robert, and
Lela Moore. They moved to
Sylva where he managed the
Sylva Supply. Mr. Hall passed
away in Sylva on September
30, 1938, a respected farmer,
businessman, and civic leader.
David McKee Hall was a
direct descendant of the
Reverend Joshua and Sara
Sellers Hall who came to this
area in the early 1800's. Their
oldest son, Joshua Hall, Jr.,
was married to Mary Jane
(Jennie) Queen in 1807. David
Fonzie Hall was their first
child, born on Savannah.
Following his marriage to
Rachel Wilson they made their
home in Webster. To this union
were born three children,
Lucius Coleman, Mary Jane
(Molly), and Laura. Lucius
Coleman married Magdelean
Angeline Allison. They had one
child, Florence. After the
death of Magdelean Angeline,
L. C. Hall married Hannah
Margaret McKee. To this
union were born three
children, Rachel Grace, David
McKee, and Lucius Coleman.
David McKee Hall married
Edith Moore in 1915.
Young David McKee Hall
David McKee Hall became the hus­band
of Edith Enloe Moore in 1915.
It was in 1959 that Edith Hall
was named North Carolina 's
Mother of the Year. It is true
that Mrs. Hall has presided
over nearly every club and
organization, civic and
religious and patriotic, in
Jackson county, but becoming
Mother of the Year is her
greatest honor and her most
natural one.
She and David Hall had five
children. Carolyn, their second
daughter, died at fou r .
Margaret married and lived in
Franklin until she moved to
Asheville to teach at the
Eliada Home for Children. She
has two children, Charles and
Carolyn in Franklin.
David, a Jackson county
lawyer, lived in Webster until
he was elected to the United
States Congress and moved to
Washington. He died in 1960.
His wife, Sarah McCollum and
their daughters Anne, Allison,
and Hannah live in Virginia.
Robert and Anne Osborne
Hall live in Asheville where he
is vice president of the North
Carolina National Bank. Their
children, Robert, Allen, and
David are Asheville residents.
Lela Moore Hall has retired
as Director of Social Services
for New Hanover County,
Wilmington, and now lives in
Sylva.
Winter, 1983, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Page 3
nmunity with love and understanding
!erick and Margaret, in front of their Asheville The Hall family home, Riverview, in Webster, sits on the banks of the Tuckaseigee River.
Four children who are her
monuments to motherhood
plus all the hundreds of
students she influenced at
Western Carolina University
plus the hundreds of children
and their children who use the
Jackson County Library
where she instituted the
Friends of the Library plus
children whose futures she
guided in PTA .. plus ... the
list could just go on- a monu­ment
to the mother.
Her friends, neighbors, and
relatives recognize Edith
Moore Hall for all the things
she is.
"She is a devout Christian
woman and mother embody­ing
the Christian virture of
love and service in the finest
ways," wrote the Reverend
Milford V. Thumm, the former
minister of the Cullowhee
United Methodist Church.
Ann Enloe, her cousin in
Dillsboro, says, "She is the
proverbial 'Pillar of strength.'
All my life the whole family
has always been prone to 'call
Edith' or 'send for Edith' or
'tell Edith' first in any family
crisis."
Mrs. Reid, former Western
Carolina University presi­dent's
wife, in her nomination
of Mrs. Hall for Mother of the
Year, said, " Mrs. Hall comes
as close to being the idea
mother as it is possible for
anyone to be. She has inspired
not only her own four children
but all who know her because
of her unfailing courage, her
strength in the face of adver­sity,
her calmness and her
cheerfulness. Many of these
qualities are hers because of a
deep, abiding faith in God. She
has been tested many times,
some would feel that she has
had more than her share of
trials and tribulation, but her
courage has never weakened,
and she has given strength to
those about her. Above all,
Mrs. Hall enjoys life, and she
makes life pleasant for all who
come in contact with her. She
has poise, charm, and warm
friendliness. She loves people
and understands them, and
she is always ready to help
them. In return people love
her.''
Hannah Lou Brown Rawlson
is a frequent contributor to
Historic -Webster. She is a stu­dent
of local and family
history.
The Hedden House in Webster, home for eleven years, and the Sylva Supply
have been very important in Edith Hall's life.
The
Hall
Children
Carolyn
Margaret Moore
Robert Cromwell
David McKee
Lela Moore
Page 4, HISTORIC WEBSTER, Winter, 1983
Reflections by Janice Monteith Blanton
David McKee Hall, Jr.
The David Halls were my " employers" during my
teens in Webster. Come to think of it, many of my
neighbors were my employers in one way or another
as I grew up- I was a hairdresser for some, a clean­ing
lady for others, and for the David Halls, a baby
or " child" sitter, as I'm sure their three daughters
would have preferred at the time I be called.
On the nights or weekends when I stayed with the
Hall girls, David (Mr. Hall as I called him) would
always pick me up and take me home. He'd pull up
in front of our house, usually on the way home from
the office, in his big black Buick (I think it was a
Buick), I'd jump in the car and away we'd "fly"
down the Webster hill to his house. Being paralyzed
from the waist down, David used a cane to accelerate
and brake the car. This, added to the fact that he was
a VERY fast driver, often served to raise the hair
on my head as we sped down the hill. Many times,
I silently wondered if we weren't going to end up in
the Allman's living room at the deep curve above the
River. Sometimes I suspected he gave me these ex­citing
rides just to test my nerves or for the pure fun
of it.
himself. Rather, he appeared to me to be a man with
very high goals and objectives which he was deter­mined
to achieve.
Family-wise, I believe David was a lucky man. He
had an absolutely lovely wife and three beautiful, in­telligent
daughters who thought their father was
a great guy. In fact, his beautiful wife was one of his
greatest assets and a great contributor to his
achievements. Mrs. Hall was one of the most
graceful and elegant women I've ever seen. Tall with
sparkling black hair and a very soft spoken voice and
sweet smile, she was very much in control of herself
and the Hall family arena. She was the "enabler"
in the family- the one who made things happen. She
was the organizing and stabilizing force of the fami­ly
and a very strong and compassiona te woman.
Child-sitting for the Halls meant that I saw very
little of Mr. and Mrs. Hall themselves. However, I
remember my teen-age interaction with that family
and feel very proud to say, "I used to baby-sit for the
Halls," because I admired the David Hall family
very much and feel that families like this are what
made Webster such a great place for me to grow up.
Edith Hall's family recipe
for pound cake
By Edith Moore Hall
This recipe was given to me by my great­grandmother,
Mrs. Jack Allison, who got it from her
mother, " Nanny" Bryson.
POUND CAKE
1 pound butter
1 V. pounds white sugar
1 pound eggs ( 11)
1 pound flour
11h teaspoons vanilla
1'h teaspoons lemon
11! teaspoon salt
Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the flour and
eggs alternately, in small quantities, stirring con­stantly
until all are added. Mix in vanilla, lemon, salt
and beat well. Bake in a pan with a stem which has
been buttered and floured at 350• for 11h hours or un­til
done when tested with a broom straw.
With this cake at Christmastime, we like to serve
ambrosia. To one quart of orange sections, mem­brane
removed, add one quart sliced bananas and
one cup of freshly grated coconut. Sweeten to taste
and chill before serving.
I liked David and I certainly admired him. He was
instinctively likeable, very kind and friendly to me,
and my observation was that he thought a great deal
of his family and they of him. Usually when I was
there they were on their way somewhere so my op­portunity
for observation was really minor, but the
children's Jove and admiration for their parents
came through in many ways in their absence. Once
David was playing some kind of hand game with the
children and they wanted him to try it with me. I ap­proached
his wheelchair a little apprehensively and
he grinned and asked me to close my hand into a fist.
Then he pressed a spot on my wrist and asked me
to open my hand - I couldn't do it! The girls got a
great kick out of this.
Edith Moore Hall provided
home and support for family
I admired David because, in spite of his handicap,
he had in my opinion achieved considerable success,
both materially, career-wise, and family-wise.
Evidence of material success could be seen in the
Hall house - a lovely old, and beautifully restored,
house on the Tuckasegee River. Being a lover of
history and particularly of old houses, I was
delighted with the frequent opportunities for sitting
at the Halls. To me, spending time there was a
somewhat romantic experience and, I suppose, of­fered
me opportunity to dream of the day when I'd
Jive in such a home and setting myself. At times, the
girls and I would go out to the shallow parts of the
river and play and throw stones, and I would
periodically glance back at the house and revel in its
stately beauty. The house was essentially divided in­to
the "back" and "front. " The back part of the house
consisted of the den, kitchen, bath, and one bedroom,
and this was the heated area of the house where the
family Jived. The girls' rooms were in an upstairs
attic-type section off the den. I would go up and turn
on space heaters for them some time prior to their
bedtime so their rooms would be warm when they
went to bed. Being an adult who has to pay heating
bills on a large two-story house, I can now unders­tand
the practicality of this arrangement. Actually,
the only other area of the house I ever saw in my
periodic stays at the Halls was the living room and
front foyer. I saw this area one Christmas when the
girls took me to see their large Christmas tree
located in the foyer. Now, you'd think that as in­trigued
as I was with the house, I would have asked
the girls to see the rest of it or slipped around and
looked at the other rooms when they were asleep, but
I didn't. I stayed there all those times dying to see
the remainder of the house, but too conscientious to
peep and too backward or self-conscious to ask!
Career-wise, David, from all appearances had a
successful law practice. Also, at the time I stayed
with them he was a state senator; this perhaps
precipitated many of their social engagements at the
time. As a young person I was very impressed with
his professional status and personal achievements
because I surmised that to accomplish what he had
with his handicap must have required a great deter­mination
and "stick-tuitiveness" which many so­called
normal people don't have. In my contact with
David, I never heard him complain or feel sorry for
By Dan K. Moore
I could write a book about my relationship with
David and Edith Hall, both one-time residents of
Webster. The legal relationship, that of sister and
brother-in-Jaw is only a foundation on which many
years of Jove, assistance, and support have been
built.
My mother, Lela Enloe Moore, died while I was a
freshman at the University of North Carolina. Since
my father had died several years previously,
thereafter, I made my home with my sister Margaret
Council and her husband Jim and Edith and David
- mostly with the Halls as Margaret and Jim fre­quently
moved because of Jim's work.
To say that the Halls furnished me a home is to tell
only a small part of the story. David provided me
with a job during vacation at the Sylva Supply or the
Mercantile Supply, he endorsed my notes at the oid
Tuckaseigee Bank so that I could complete my
education at the University and its Law School, but
equally important, both Edith and David always
gave me the support, encouragement, and advice
that every young person so badly needs.
When I returned to Sylva to begin my career as a
lawyer, I again had a home with the Halls plus their
continued assistance in every way possible, and it
was not until 1933, when Jeanelle and I were mar­ried
and established our own home, that I left the
Halls.
To summarize, life as I knew it, would have been
impossible without the Halls, otherwise, I might
never have studied Jaw or followed the path which
later took me from Sylva into different fields and op­portunities.
To say that I will forever be grateful to
the Halls is the biggest understatement of the cen­tury.
Actually, words are insufficient to express this
gratitude.
By Margaret Moore Council
Edith Moore Hall has been more than a sister to
me since our father, Judge Frederick Moore, died
when I was not quite six years old. She, the oldest
of five children, helped our mother, Lela Enloe
Moore, rear us. While we thought she was often pret­ty
" bossy," as the years passed we reauze that this
was part of the responsibility thrust upon her when
she was only ten years old.
When Edith married David McKee Hall and mov­ed
to Sylva, she was greatly missed in our Webster
home, but we soon realized that now we had two
homes, as she and David always made us feel so
welcome.
Our mother, having moved to Sylva, died in
February, 1924. After a brief attempt to keep her
home open, we rented it and made the Hall home our
headquarters. At that time my brother Fred was
working in Lafayette, Georgia, Dan and Enloe were
in school in Chapel Hill, and I was teaching in
Brevard.
My husband, James H. Council, and I were mar­ried
in the Sylva Methodist Church and our wedding
reception was given by the Halls in their home. Jim
was immediately absorbed into the family and has
loved and honored Edith and David as I have. Among
our happiest memories are those holidays spent with
them and their four children in their hospitable
home.
By Jeanelle C. Moore
My experience involving a relationship with Edith
and David Hall was one of the most rewarding and
happiest of my life. In 1933 I came to Sylva as the
bride of a handsome, young attorney Dan Moore,
brother of Edith. And if I had been hand-picked and
approved my first welcome into the wide, wonder­ful
world of the Moore family could not have been
more genuine and loving- a relationship which ex­ists
today after fifty happy years of marriage to that
lawyer.
Edith became my sister, advisor only when I
sought advice, and my friend. Perhaps I can best ex­plain
how I felt about this wonderful lady by telling
you that when our first child, a daughter, was born
·it was my expressed wish that she be named Edith.
Need I say more.
By James H. Council
Margaret and I met in the fall of 1923. She was
teaching in Brevard, and I was working for the Tran­sylvania
County Road Commission. It was in the
spring of 1924 that I first met Margaret's wonderful
sister, Edith Moore Hall, and her husband David.
Edith and David and their children were kind, and
good, to me from the very beginning. I never had a
sister, but when Margaret and I were married in 1925
Edith became my sister-in-law, and I am sure the
most wonderful one in the world. David was a fine
brother-in-Jaw too. They gave me a cordial welcome
into Margaret's family, and I have loved them dearly
from the beginning.
David and I had some business relationships,
which he managed until his death in 1938. After that
Edith and I have continued the business partnership,
and what a great partner she has been.